Box Score MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's volleyball team held on to a five-set exhibition win against Alberta Tuesday night in Firestone Fieldhouse. 
 
After Pepperdine won the first two sets 25-22, 25-18, Alberta took the following 29-27, 25-22 to force a fifth set.  The Waves came out swinging and worked ahead 4-2 early with a kill from Cole Rasic and multiple errors from across the net.  A pair of smashes from Andersen Fuller and a block from Fuller and Ryan Graves propelled the Waves to an 8-5 lead at the switch.  Pepperdine's offensive proved tough as more kills from Joe Deluzio and James Eadie kept the squad moving forward, 13-10.  Rasic and Alex Mrkalj would lay down back-to-back smashes to close things up with a 15-10 win.
 
Alex Mrkalj posted double-figure kills, while swinging for a .318 clip throughout the match.  Trey Cole and Ilay Haver added solid back row performances with 11 and 10 digs respectively as well. 
 
The Waves will open the regular season with two more matches on the docket this week, hosting Fort Valley State and Morehouse College in Firestone Fieldhouse on January 3 and 5 respectively.
 
BIG WAVES
Alex Mrkalj (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada): 10 kills, .318 hitting %, 6 digs, 2 aces, 1 block
Kevin Roberts (Ocoee, Fla.): 9 kills, 3 digs
Ryan Barnett (Long Island, N.Y.): 8 kills, .571 hitting %, 6 digs, 1 ace
Trey Cole (Long Island, N.Y.): 11 digs
Ilay Haver (Kfar Saba, Israel): 10 digs, 5 kills, 2 aces
Ryan Graves (Irvine, Calif.): 46 assists, 6 digs, 1 block
Joe Deluzio (Windermere, Fla.): 7 kills, .312 hitting %, 2 aces
Cole Rasic (Huntington Beach, Calif.): 7 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, 1 ace
Andersen Fuller (Manlius, N.Y.): 8 kills, 1 block
Martin De Chavarria (Palma de Mallorca, Spain): 5 blocks
 
WAVES VS. BEARS
Pepperdine led in most areas throughout the night, posting 58 kills on a .266 clip, while allowing 53 kills on a .236 output to Alberta.  The Waves also led with 57 digs and 9.0 blocks to the opposition's 46 digs and 8.0 blocks, though the Bears had the edge with 17 aces to the home team's eight.
 
PEPPERDINE ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1           11        6          29        .172
2          10        2          26        .308
3          11        5          33        .182
4          17        6          31        .355
5          9          2          20        .350
TTL      58        21        139      .266
 
ALBERTA ATTACK BY SET
Set       K          E          TA        Pct
1          13        5          34        .235
2          10        5          33        .152
3          12        5          27        .259
4          13        2          29        .379
5          5          3          17        .118
TTL      53        20        140      .236
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
After exchanging points to open the set, the Waves broke away with kills from Ilay Haver, Kevin Roberts and Ryan Barnett to lead by four, 10-6.  The opposition countered to tie the score at 13's before pulling ahead by two, 15-13.  A service error from across the net, followed by a solo rejection from Haver and a kill from Roberts had Pepperdine retake the lead with a 3-0 run.  Smashes from Barnett and more errors from across the net kept the home team moving forward en route to a 23-20 lead late in the action.  The Bears were able to string a few points together, but Pepperdine capitalized on a service error and an ace from Alex Mrkalj to end the set 25-22.
 
Each side worked to a 5-5 tied score before kills from Roberts and Haver and a solo block from Martin De Chavarria helped the cause, propelling the Waves to a 10-5 advantage.  It would be a lead Alberta would be unable to overcome throughout as more smashes from Roberts, an ace from Barnett and another block from De Chavarria pushed the home team to a 20-15 lead.  The offensive attacks kept coming by way of Barnett and Haver and a final solo rejection from De Chavarria helped the Waves to a 25-18 win.
 
The third set told a different tale from start to finish with Alberta starting out with a 12-5 lead early on.  A 7-1 run with kills from Mrkalj and Andersen Fuller and an ace from Haver helped Pepperdine close the gap to one, 13-12.  After the Bears pulled ahead by four, a smash from Cole Rasic, ace from Joe Deluzio and block collaboration featuring Rasic and De Chavarria, closed the gap once again at 16-apiece.  Another ace from Deluzio gave the Waves the team's first lead of the set and the Waves wouldn't look back.  A block from Mrkalj and De Chavarria and a pair of kills from Mrkalj and Rasic kept Pepperdine ahead by two at the 21-19 mark.  The Waves were the first to 23 with a kill from De Chavarria, but the opposition put two points together to reach their first set-point opportunity of the night.  The Waves fended off four set-point options, but the Bears would capitalize with an ace on the fifth occasion to win the set 29-27 and force a fourth.
 
Pepperdine took a 9-6 lead to open the fourth with kills from Rasic, Mrkalj and Deluzio to fuel the effort.  After extending the advantage to four points at the 12-8 mark, the opposition went on an 8-0 run for a 17-12 lead.  Smashes from Mrkalj and Fuller helped tie things back up at 18-18, but the Bears took a slight lead towards the end of the set, eventually winning 25-22 to make it a five-set match.
 
The Waves went on to win the set 15-10.
 
FOLLOW
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